1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method for removing human immunodeficiency virus (hereinafter abbreviated as HIV) and/or its related compounds from body fluids of patients.
2. Description of the Prior Art
HIV has affinity for human lymphocytes, particularly for helper T lymphocytes, and tends to invade these lymphocytes and destroy them, thus lowering the function of cell-mediated immunity. As a result, the patients often suffer from opportunistic infection or benign or malignant tumor, which is usually fatal.
Research is actively under way to find effective remedies for infection caused by HIV. For example, attempts have been made to prepare an effective vaccine, but construction of a vaccine is difficult in obtaining the correct antigen (the target of the vaccine) because the HIV gene is likely to undergo mutation. Administration of Suramin, HPA 23 and AZT was also attempted based on the concept that a specific inhibitor against reverse transcriptase and/or DNA synthesis inhibitor of HIV could retard the settlement of the viral genome. However, no satisfactory results have been obtained, with only side effects of these compounds being reported. It is conceivable that antiviral agents like interferons could retard the assembly of retroviruses and they are presently in use as immune-controlling agents; actually, however, no marked effect has been observed in clinical tests.
An increase in the amount of immune complexes and the presence of inhibitory factors derived from interleukin-2 were observed in the plasma of HIV-infected patients, and plasmapheresis has been tried to remove these substances. But no satisfactory result have yet been obtained [Plasma Therapy, 8, 23 (1987)]. Many different kinds of therapy have been attempted to cure infections caused by HIV, as described above, but only limited effects, if any, were exhibited by any of these therapies.